This is in response to your letter of December 31, 1994, to the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in which you asked if the fall
protection standards, 29 CFR 1926.500-503, effective February 6, 1995,
supersede OSHA Instruction STD 3-13.1, dated January 31, 1978, concerning
tying off of loft workers, top men and pile monks during sheet piling
activities. You pointed out that 1926.603(a)(8) requires pile driving
equipment with fixed leads to have attachment points for loft workers to
engage their safety belt lanyards. OSHA has previously interpreted this
requirement to mean that only employees working on pile driver fixed leads,
and not employees working on top of sheet piling, were required to be tied
off. You asked if this interpretation had changed with the publication of
the new fall protection requirements.

With the publication of the new fall protection standard, Field Information
Memorandum #75-12 and OSHA Program Directive #100-81 (renamed OSHA
Instruction STD 3-13.1) were inadvertently superseded. As a result, the work
activity in question now comes under 1926.501(b)(15), Walking/Working
Surfaces Not Otherwise Addressed, since the requirement in 1926.603(a)(8) is
simply to provide an attachment point for employees and is not a specific
duty to use fall protection. However, in promulgating the new fall
protection rule, OSHA did not become aware of any information that warrants
changing the interpretation contained in the earlier documents and,
consequently, the interpretation found in STD 3-13.1 is still valid.
Restated, OSHA's interpretation is that fall protection is required for
employees on pile driver fixed leads and for employees on sheet piling unless
the employees are on a work platform equipped with guardrails or are using
stirrups.

If you have any questions, please call me or Dale Cavanaugh of my staff at
(202)219-8136.

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